Geospecific information system and method

ABSTRACT

A method, computer program product, and computing system for receiving a request for information, concerning a geographically-proximate entity, on a consumer electronic device included within a vehicle. A location of the vehicle is determined; and the geographically-proximate entity is identified based, at least in part, upon the location of the vehicle.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/863,528, filed on Jan. 5, 2018, the entire contents of all of whichare incorporated by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to information systems and, more particularly,to geospecific information systems for use with consumer electronicdevices.

BACKGROUND

Today's consumer electronic devices are often controllable via voicecommands. For example, these devices may include voice-to-texttechnology that may convert the user's voice commands into text-basedcommands. Accordingly, the user may issue a voice command that may beprocessed by the consumer electronics device to generate a text-basedcommand that may be mapped onto the available functionality of theconsumer electronic device.

Unfortunately, the voice interfaces in these consumer electronic devicesare often underwhelming. For example, in the event that the user of theconsumer electronic device would like information on an entity (e.g., abuilding, a business, or an object) that they are passing by in theirvehicle, the device might not be able to provide the requestedinformation unless the user specifies the exact name or the exactaddress of the entity (which is often unknown to the user in thatsituation).

SUMMARY OF DISCLOSURE

In one implementation, a computer-implemented method is executed on acomputing device and includes receiving a request for information,concerning a geographically-proximate entity, on a consumer electronicdevice included within a vehicle. A location of the vehicle isdetermined; and the geographically-proximate entity is identified based,at least in part, upon the location of the vehicle.

One or more of the following features may be included. A direction ofinterest of an occupant of the vehicle concerning thegeographically-proximate entity is determined. Identifying thegeographically-proximate entity based, at least in part, upon thelocation of the vehicle may include identifying thegeographically-proximate entity based, at least in part, upon thelocation of the vehicle and the direction of interest. Imageryconcerning the geographically-proximate entity may be obtained.Identifying the geographically-proximate entity based, at least in part,upon the location of the vehicle may include identifying thegeographically-proximate entity based, at least in part, upon thelocation of the vehicle and the imagery concerning thegeographically-proximate entity. Identifying thegeographically-proximate entity based, at least in part, upon thelocation of the vehicle may include requesting additional informationconcerning the geographically-proximate entity from an occupant of thevehicle. Identifying the geographically-proximate entity based, at leastin part, upon the location of the vehicle may include obtaininginformation concerning the geographically-proximate entity from adatasource.

In another implementation, a computer program product resides on acomputer readable medium and has a plurality of instructions stored onit. When executed by a processor, the instructions cause the processorto perform operations including receiving a request for information,concerning a geographically-proximate entity, on a consumer electronicdevice included within a vehicle. A location of the vehicle isdetermined; and the geographically-proximate entity is identified based,at least in part, upon the location of the vehicle.

One or more of the following features may be included. A direction ofinterest of an occupant of the vehicle concerning thegeographically-proximate entity is determined. Identifying thegeographically-proximate entity based, at least in part, upon thelocation of the vehicle may include identifying thegeographically-proximate entity based, at least in part, upon thelocation of the vehicle and the direction of interest. Imageryconcerning the geographically-proximate entity may be obtained.Identifying the geographically-proximate entity based, at least in part,upon the location of the vehicle may include identifying thegeographically-proximate entity based, at least in part, upon thelocation of the vehicle and the imagery proximate thegeographically-proximate entity. Identifying thegeographically-proximate entity based, at least in part, upon thelocation of the vehicle may include requesting additional informationconcerning the geographically-proximate entity from an occupant of thevehicle. Identifying the geographically-proximate entity based, at leastin part, upon the location of the vehicle may include obtaininginformation concerning the geographically-proximate entity from adatasource.

In another implementation, a computing system includes a processor andmemory is configured to perform operations including receiving a requestfor information, concerning a geographically-proximate entity, on aconsumer electronic device included within a vehicle. A location of thevehicle is determined; and the geographically-proximate entity isidentified based, at least in part, upon the location of the vehicle.

One or more of the following features may be included. A direction ofinterest of an occupant of the vehicle concerning thegeographically-proximate entity is determined. Identifying thegeographically-proximate entity based, at least in part, upon thelocation of the vehicle may include identifying thegeographically-proximate entity based, at least in part, upon thelocation of the vehicle and the direction of interest. Imageryconcerning the geographically-proximate entity may be obtained.Identifying the geographically-proximate entity based, at least in part,upon the location of the vehicle may include identifying thegeographically-proximate entity based, at least in part, upon thelocation of the vehicle and the imagery proximate thegeographically-proximate entity. Identifying thegeographically-proximate entity based, at least in part, upon thelocation of the vehicle may include requesting additional informationconcerning the geographically-proximate entity from an occupant of thevehicle. Identifying the geographically-proximate entity based, at leastin part, upon the location of the vehicle may include obtaininginformation concerning the geographically-proximate entity from adatasource.

The details of one or more implementations are set forth in theaccompanying drawings and the description below. Other features andadvantages will become apparent from the description, the drawings, andthe claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a consumer electronic device thatexecutes a system information process according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view of a vehicle within which the consumerelectronic device may be positioned;

FIG. 2A is a diagrammatic view of an image as seen by an occupant of thevehicle of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the system information process of FIG. 1according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

System Overview

In FIG. 1, there is shown system information process 10. Systeminformation process 10 may reside on and may be executed by consumerelectronic device 12. An example of consumer electronic device 12 mayinclude but are not limited to a vehicle infotainment system, such asvehicle navigation systems, vehicle music systems, vehicle videosystems, vehicle phone systems, and vehicle climate control systems.

The instruction sets and subroutines of system information process 10,which may be stored on storage device 14 coupled to consumer electronicdevice 12, may be executed by one or more processors (not shown) and oneor more memory architectures (not shown) included within consumerelectronic device 12. Examples of storage device 14 may include but arenot limited to: a hard disk drive; a RAID device; a random access memory(RAM); a read-only memory (ROM); and all forms of flash memory storagedevices. Consumer electronic device 12 may execute an operating system,examples of which may include but are not limited to Microsoft Windows™,Android™, iOS™, Linux™, or a custom operating system.

When configured as a vehicle infotainment system, consumer electronicdevice 12 may be configured to execute various different functionalitiesthat may be of interest/useful to a user (e.g., user 16). Examples ofsuch functionalities may include but are not limited to: radiofunctionality (e.g., that enables the playing of terrestrial radiostations and satellite radio stations); audio functionality (e.g., thatenables the playing of audio, wherein this audio may be disc-based orlocally stored on storage device 14); video functionality (e.g., thatenables the playing of video, wherein this video may be disc-based orlocally stored on storage device 14); phone functionality (e.g., thatenables the placing and receiving of phone calls); navigationfunctionality (e.g., that enables the execution of navigation/guidancefunctionality); and communication functionality (e.g., that enables thesending and receiving of email/text messages/instant messages).

When configured as a vehicle infotainment system, consumer electronicdevice 12 may include a plurality of buttons (e.g., physical buttons orelectronic buttons) that enable the selection of the above-describedfunctionality. For example, the above-described radio functionality maybe selectable via “radio” button 18; the above-described audiofunctionality may be selectable via “audio” button 20; theabove-described video functionality may be selectable via “video” button22; the above-described phone functionality may be selectable via“phone” button 24; the above-described navigation functionality may beselectable via “nav” button 26; and the above-described communicationsfunctionality may be selectable via “comm” button 28.

When configured as a vehicle infotainment system, consumer electronicdevice 12 may be configured to interface with one or more externalsystems (e.g., external system 30). Examples of external system 30 mayinclude but are not limited to: a cellular telephone; a smart phone; atablet computing device; a portable computing device; and a handheldentertainment device (e.g., such as a gaming device). When interfacingwith consumer electronic device 12, external system 30 may be releasablycoupled to consumer electronic device 12 via a hardwired connection(e.g., USB cable 32). Alternatively, external system 30 may bewirelessly coupled to consumer electronic device 12 via wirelesscommunication channel 34 established between external system 30 andantenna 36 of consumer electronic device 12. An example of wirelesscommunication channel 34 may include but is not limited to a Bluetoothcommunication channel. As is known in the art, Bluetooth is atelecommunications industry specification that allows e.g., mobilephones, computers, and personal digital assistants to be interconnectedusing a short-range wireless connection.

Consumer electronic device 12 and/or external system 30 may beconfigured to be wirelessly coupled to/access an external network (e.g.,network 38). Examples of network 38 may include but are not limited tothe internet, a cellular network, a WiFi network, and/or a cloud-basedcomputing platform.

As discussed above, consumer electronic device 12 may be configured toexecute various different functionalities that may be of interest/usefulfor a user (e.g., user 16). Some of these functionalities may be locallyresident on (provided by) consumer electronic device 12.Additionally/alternatively, some of these functionalities may beremotely resident on (provided by) external system 30. Examples of suchremotely-resident functionalities may include phone functionality (e.g.,that enables the placing and receiving of phone calls via consumerelectronic device 12 using external system 30) and communicationfunctional (that enables user 16 to send/receive email, send/receivetext messages and/or send/receive instant messages) via consumerelectronic device 12 using external system 30. Consumer electronicdevice 12 may also include display screen 40 and one or more knobs/dials42, 44 that effectuate the use of such functionalities.

Consumer electronic device 12 may include microphone assembly 46 andspeech-to-text conversion system 48 (such as those available from NuanceCommunications, Inc. of Burlington, Mass.). Accordingly, consumerelectronic device 12 may be configured to accept verbal commands (e.g.,verbal command 50) that are spoken and provided by (in this example)user 16. As will be discussed below in greater detail, these verbalcommands (e.g., verbal command 50) may be configured to allow user 16 toaccess and control the above-described functionalities in a hands-freefashion.

Referring also to FIG. 2 and as discussed above, an example of consumerelectronic device 12 may include a vehicle infotainment system that maybe included within vehicle 100. Various sensors may be included within(or on) vehicle 100, wherein these sensors may be coupled to (orinterfaced with) consumer electronic device 12. For example, thesesensors may include one or more cameras that may be configured to obtainimagery proximate vehicle 100. For example:

-   -   Vehicle 100 may include forward-facing camera 102 that may be        interfaced with consumer electronic device 12, wherein        forward-facing camera 102 may be configured to capture imagery        in front of vehicle 100. Examples of forward-facing camera 102        may include but are not limited to: a still image camera, a        video camera, a visible light camera, an infrared camera, and a        thermal-imaging camera.    -   Vehicle 100 may include rearward-facing camera 104 that may be        interfaced with consumer electronic device 12, wherein        rearward-facing camera 104 may be configured to capture imagery        behind vehicle 100. Examples of forward-facing camera 102 may        include but are not limited to: a still image camera, a video        camera, a visible light camera, an infrared camera, and a        thermal-imaging camera.    -   Vehicle 100 may include right-facing camera 106 that may be        interfaced with consumer electronic device 12, wherein        right-facing camera 106 may be configured to capture imagery to        the right of vehicle 100. Examples of right-facing camera 106        may include but are not limited to: a still image camera, a        video camera, a visible light camera, an infrared camera, and a        thermal-imaging camera.    -   Vehicle 100 may include left-facing camera 108 that may be        interfaced with consumer electronic device 12, wherein        left-facing camera 108 may be configured to capture imagery to        the left of vehicle 100. Examples of left-facing camera 108 may        include but are not limited to: a still image camera, a video        camera, a visible light camera, an infrared camera, and a        thermal-imaging camera.

Additionally, vehicle 100 may include occupant sensor 110 that may beconfigured to sense various aspects of the occupants (e.g., occupants112, 114) of vehicle 100. For example, occupant sensor 110 may beconfigured to sense the direction in which the eyes of the occupant(e.g., occupants 112, 114) of vehicle 100 are looking.Additionally/alternatively, occupant sensor 110 may be configured tosense the direction in which the head of the occupant (e.g., occupants112, 114) of vehicle 100 is looking. Further, occupant sensor 110 may beconfigured to e.g., sense one or more gestures (e.g., pointing motions)made by the occupant (e.g., occupants 112, 114) of vehicle 100.

As stated above and as will be discussed below in greater detail, one ormore of forward-facing camera 102, rearward-facing camera 104,right-facing camera 106, left-facing camera 108 and occupant sensor 110may be coupled to (or interfaced with) consumer electronic device 12,wherein the data provided by forward-facing camera 102, rearward-facingcamera 104, right-facing camera 106, left-facing camera 108 and/oroccupant sensor 110 may be utilized by system information process 10.

As discussed above, consumer electronic device 12 may include microphoneassembly 46 and speech-to-text conversion system 48 so that speech-basedcommands may be provided to consumer electronic device 12, wherein theseverbal commands (e.g., verbal command 50) may allow user 16 to accessand control the above-described functionalities (e.g., radiofunctionality; audio functionality; video functionality; phonefunctionality; navigation functionality; and communicationfunctionality) in a hands-free fashion.

System Information Process

System information process 10 may be configured to process speech withinvehicle 100. While the following discussion concerns system informationprocess 10 continuously monitoring conversations within vehicle 100 forthe occurrence of certain utterances by an occupant (e.g., occupants112, 114) within vehicle 100, this is for illustrative purpose only andis not intended to be a limitation of this disclosure, as otherconfigurations are possible and are considered to be within the scope ofthis disclosure. For example, system information process 10 may beconfigured to be manually activated by an occupant (e.g., occupants 112,114) within vehicle 100 by e.g., pushing a button (such as a steeringwheel mounted button; not shown). Alternatively, system informationprocess 10 may be configured to be in a standby/sleep mode until e.g., a“wakeup” word/command is uttered (in a fashion similar to Amazon'sAlexa™ or Apple's Siri™) by an occupant (e.g., occupants 112, 114)within vehicle 100.

So for this example, assume that system information process 10 isconfigured to continuously monitor conversations within vehicle 100 forthe occurrence of certain utterances by the occupant (e.g., occupants112, 114) of vehicle 100, wherein these utterances may be indicative ofthe occupant (e.g., occupants 112, 114) of vehicle 100 wantinginformation concerning a geographically-proximate entity (e.g.,something that they are driving past or see on the road). For example,assume that vehicle 100 is travelling North on the Las Vegas Strip inLas Vegas, Nev. and occupant 114 looks out of the right-side of vehicle100 and sees a smaller scale version of the Eiffel Tower (as shown inFIG. 2A), wherein occupant 114 says “What is that Eiffel Tower?”

This “utterance” (e.g., verbal command 50) may be interpreted by systeminformation process 10 to be indicative of occupant 114 wantinginformation concerning this geographically-proximate entity.Specifically, system information process 10 may include a plurality ofdefined words/phases (e.g., words/phases 52 defined within storagedevice 14) that, when detected by system information process 10,constitute an utterance that is indicative of an occupant wantinginformation about an entity. Examples of such utterances may include butare not limited to “What is that . . . ”, “Tell me about . . . ”, “Lookat that . . . ”, “Oh wow . . . ”, and “Did you see that . . . ”, whereinspeech (e.g., verbal command 50) that includes one or more of theseutterances may be interpreted by system information process 10 to be arequest for information concerning a geographically-proximate entity.

Accordingly and referring also to FIG. 3, system information process 10may receive 200 this request for information (e.g., verbal command 50)concerning a geographically-proximate entity (e.g., What is that EiffelTower?) on consumer electronic device 12 included within vehicle 100.Upon receiving 200 this request for information (e.g., verbal command50), system information process 10 may determine 202 a location ofvehicle 100. As discussed above, consumer electronic device 12 mayprovide various functionalities, including navigation functionality.According, consumer electronic device 12 may include GPS (i.e., GlobalPositioning System) technology that may process a plurality of locatingsignals from a plurality of satellites so that the location of vehicle100 may be determined 202 via triangulation. Alternatively, such GPStechnology may be included within external system 30. Alternativelystill, technology other than GPS technology may be utilized to determine202 the location of vehicle 100. For example, cellular towertriangulation technology may be utilized to determine 202 the locationof vehicle 100. Additionally and if the position of vehicle 100 isdetermined over a defined period of time, the direction and velocity ofvehicle 100 may be determined by and/or available to system informationprocess 10 (as a change in position with respect to time defines avelocity vector).

Accordingly and upon receiving 200 the request for information (e.g.,verbal command 50), system information process 10 may first determine202 that vehicle 100 is located on (and travelling North on) the LasVegas Strip and may then identify 204 the geographically-proximateentity (e.g., the smaller scale version of the Eiffel Tower) based, atleast in part, upon the location of vehicle 100.

When identifying 204 the geographically-proximate entity (e.g., thesmaller scale version of the Eiffel Tower) based, at least in part, uponthe location of vehicle 100, system information process 10 may obtain206 information concerning the geographically-proximate entity (e.g.,the smaller scale version of the Eiffel Tower) from a datasource. Forexample, system information process 10 may access one or more externaldatasources (e.g., datasource 54 included within consumer electronicdevice 12 and/or datasource 56 accessible via network 38) to obtain 206such information.

Accordingly and when identifying 204 the geographically-proximate entity(e.g., the smaller scale version of the Eiffel Tower) based, at least inpart, upon the location of vehicle 100, system information process 10may access datasource 54 and/or datasource 56 to search for and obtain206 information concerning entities at the location determined 202 forvehicle 100. Additionally and when identifying 204 thegeographically-proximate entity (e.g., the smaller scale version of theEiffel Tower), specific information included within the request may beconsidered (e.g., the words “Eiffel” and “Tower”). Accordingly andassuming that datasource 54 and/or datasource 56 have the appropriateinformation and the required level of detail, when system informationprocess 10 executes a search (on e.g., datasource 54 and/or datasource56) that defines the term “Eiffel”, the term “Tower” and the location ofvehicle 100, the geographically-proximate entity may be identified 204as the Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino.

While the above example concerns an initial inquiry that may be considersomewhat vague, it is understood that this is for illustrative purposesonly and other (more detailed) inquiries may be initially made.Accordingly, other examples of such initial inquires may include but arenot limited to: “What is that tower on my right?”, “What is that brownstructure?”, “What is that brown Eiffel Tower on my right?”, and “Whattimes does the restaurant open in that Eiffel Tower on my right?”)

In the event that the request received 200 by system information process10 does not contain enough information to unambiguously identify thegeographically-proximate entity (e.g., the smaller scale version of theEiffel Tower) as the Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino; when identifying204 the geographically-proximate entity (e.g., the smaller scale versionof the Eiffel Tower) based, at least in part, upon the location ofvehicle 100, system information process 10 may request 208 additionalinformation concerning the geographically-proximate entity (e.g., thesmaller scale version of the Eiffel Tower) from an occupant (e.g.,occupants 112, 114) of vehicle 100. For example, system informationprocess 10 may use a voice dialog to help the user disambiguate theinitial request by e.g., showing a list of possible results withreference images, by asking a refinement question, or by asking aconfirmation question (“Did you mean the Eiffel tower at the Paris LasVegas Hotel?” while rendering a reference image on display screen 40).

Accordingly, system information process 10 may request 208 additionalinformation by asking the occupant (e.g., occupants 112, 114) of vehicle100 “What color is it?” or “Which side of the car are you looking outof?” Once the occupant (e.g., occupants 112, 114) of vehicle 100provides this information to system information process 10 in the formof a verbal response (e.g., verbal command 50), system informationprocess 10 may execute another search (on e.g., datasource 54 and/ordatasource 56) that defines the term “Eiffel”, the term “Tower”, thelocation of vehicle 100, and the supplemental information (e.g., “brown”or “right”) provided by the occupant (e.g., occupants 112, 114) ofvehicle 100 so that the geographically-proximate entity (e.g., thesmaller scale version of the Eiffel Tower) may be identified 204 as theParis Las Vegas Hotel and Casino.

In order to further enhance the automated nature and accuracy of systeminformation process 10, system information process 10 may determine 210(e.g., via occupant sensor 110) a direction of interest of the occupant(e.g., occupants 112, 114) of vehicle 100 concerning thegeographically-proximate entity (e.g., the smaller scale version of theEiffel Tower). As discussed above, vehicle 100 may include occupantsensor 110 that may be configured to sense various aspects of theoccupants (e.g., occupants 112, 114) of vehicle 100, such as thedirection in which the eyes of the occupant (e.g., occupants 112, 114)of vehicle 100 are looking; the direction in which the head of theoccupant (e.g., occupants 112, 114) of vehicle 100 is looking; and/orone or more gestures (e.g., pointing motions) made by the occupant(e.g., occupants 112, 114) of vehicle 100.

For example and when identify 204 the geographically-proximate entity(e.g., the smaller scale version of the Eiffel Tower) based, at least inpart, upon the location of vehicle 100, system information process 10may identify 212 the geographically-proximate entity (e.g., the smallerscale version of the Eiffel Tower) based, at least in part, upon thelocation of vehicle 100 and the direction of interest (e.g., as definedby occupant sensor 110) concerning the geographically-proximate entity(e.g., the smaller scale version of the Eiffel Tower). Accordingly,system information process 10 may execute a search (on e.g., datasource54 and/or datasource 56) that defines the term “Eiffel”, the term“Tower”, the location of vehicle 100 and the direction of interestinformation provided by occupant sensor 110 so that thegeographically-proximate entity (e.g., the smaller scale version of theEiffel Tower) may be identified 204 as the Paris Las Vegas Hotel andCasino.

In order to further enhance the automated nature and accuracy of systeminformation process 10, system information process 10 may obtain 214imagery (e.g., captured imagery 58) concerning thegeographically-proximate entity (e.g., the smaller scale version of theEiffel Tower) via e.g., forward-facing camera 102, rearward-facingcamera 104, right-facing camera 106, left-facing camera 108 that may beconfigured to capture imagery (e.g., captured imagery 58) around vehicle100. For example, forward-facing camera 102, rearward-facing camera 104,right-facing camera 106, and left-facing camera 108 may be configured tocontinuously (or intermittently) capture imagery (e.g., captured imagery58) proximate vehicle 100 so that this captured imagery (e.g., capturedimagery 58) may be utilized by system information process 10 to identifythe geographically-proximate entity (e.g., the smaller scale version ofthe Eiffel Tower).

For example and when identifying 204 the geographically-proximate entity(e.g., the smaller scale version of the Eiffel Tower) based, at least inpart, upon the location of vehicle 100, system information process 10may identify 216 the geographically-proximate entity (e.g., the smallerscale version of the Eiffel Tower) based, at least in part, upon thelocation of vehicle 100 and the imagery (e.g., captured imagery 58)concerning the geographically-proximate entity (e.g., the smaller scaleversion of the Eiffel Tower). For example, datasource 54 and/ordatasource 56 may include an image database defining a plurality ofimages and the entities included within those images (e.g., viametadata), wherein captured imagery 58 may be compared to the imagesincluded within this image database so that the geographically-proximateentity (e.g., the smaller scale version of the Eiffel Tower) may beidentified 204 as the Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino.

When system information process 10 obtains 214 imagery (e.g., capturedimagery 58) concerning the geographically-proximate entity (e.g., thesmaller scale version of the Eiffel Tower) via e.g., forward-facingcamera 102, rearward-facing camera 104, right-facing camera 106,left-facing camera 108 that may be configured to capture imagery (e.g.,captured imagery 58) around vehicle 100, captured imagery 58 may be usedto help the user disambiguate or confirm the search results. Forexample, a software process (e.g., within network 38) may scan theimages (e.g., captured imagery 58) for signs using image processing andOCR techniques. Any text included in the images (e.g., captured imagery58) may then be used by system information process 10 to narrow down thesearch options or increase the confidence level regarding some of theoptions. For example, if the user asked “When is this Pharmacy closingtonight?”, the ability of system information process 10 to identify asign saying “Walgreens Pharmacy” may allow system information process 10to isolate one building as the perfect match to the user query insituations where there might be many other candidates (businesses orbuildings) around that Pharmacy. Similar type of image processing mayallow the system to match a building or a place to the user query (orhelp disambiguate) by extracting distinct visual features such as thecolor of the building/place, its relative height, its shape (e.g.pyramid, tower), etc.

General

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the present disclosuremay be embodied as a method, a system, or a computer program product.Accordingly, the present disclosure may take the form of an entirelyhardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (includingfirmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodimentcombining software and hardware aspects that may all generally bereferred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore,the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program producton a computer-usable storage medium having computer-usable program codeembodied in the medium.

Any suitable computer usable or computer readable medium may beutilized. The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, forexample but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical,electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device,or propagation medium. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) ofthe computer-readable medium may include the following: an electricalconnection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, ahard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), anerasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), anoptical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), anoptical storage device, a transmission media such as those supportingthe Internet or an intranet, or a magnetic storage device. Thecomputer-usable or computer-readable medium may also be paper or anothersuitable medium upon which the program is printed, as the program can beelectronically captured, via, for instance, optical scanning of thepaper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted, or otherwiseprocessed in a suitable manner, if necessary, and then stored in acomputer memory. In the context of this document, a computer-usable orcomputer-readable medium may be any medium that can contain, store,communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or inconnection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.The computer-usable medium may include a propagated data signal with thecomputer-usable program code embodied therewith, either in baseband oras part of a carrier wave. The computer usable program code may betransmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited tothe Internet, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc.

Computer program code for carrying out operations of the presentdisclosure may be written in an object oriented programming languagesuch as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like. However, the computer programcode for carrying out operations of the present disclosure may also bewritten in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the“C” programming language or similar programming languages. The programcode may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user'scomputer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user'scomputer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remotecomputer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may beconnected to the user's computer through a local area network/a widearea network/the Internet (e.g., network 14).

The present disclosure is described with reference to flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) andcomputer program products according to embodiments of the disclosure. Itwill be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/orblock diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, may be implemented by computerprogram instructions. These computer program instructions may beprovided to a processor of a general purpose computer/special purposecomputer/other programmable data processing apparatus, such that theinstructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus, create means for implementingthe functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable memory that may direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meanswhich implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The flowcharts and block diagrams in the figures may illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof code, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be notedthat, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in theblock may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, twoblocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantiallyconcurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be notedthat each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations,and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustrations, may be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedsystems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations ofspecial purpose hardware and computer instructions.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure.As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of the present disclosure has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the disclosure in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the disclosure and the practical application, and toenable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the disclosurefor various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

A number of implementations have been described. Having thus describedthe disclosure of the present application in detail and by reference toembodiments thereof, it will be apparent that modifications andvariations are possible without departing from the scope of thedisclosure defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method, executed on acomputing device, comprising: receiving an utterance for a request forinformation, concerning a geographically-proximate entity, on a consumerelectronic device included within a vehicle; determining a location ofthe vehicle; determining a direction of interest of an occupant of thevehicle concerning the geographically-proximate entity, wherein thedetermining the direction of interest is based on at least one of i) adirection in which eyes of the occupant are looking, and ii) a directionin which the front of the head of the occupant is pointing; andidentifying the geographically-proximate entity based, at least in part,upon the location of the vehicle and the direction of interest.
 2. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising: obtainingimagery concerning the geographically-proximate entity.
 3. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 2 wherein identifying thegeographically-proximate entity based, at least in part, upon thelocation of the vehicle and the direction of interest includes:identifying the geographically-proximate entity based, at least in part,upon the location of the vehicle, the direction of interest and theimagery concerning the geographically-proximate entity.
 4. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein identifying thegeographically-proximate entity based, at least in part, upon thelocation of the vehicle and the direction of interest includes:requesting additional information concerning thegeographically-proximate entity from an occupant of the vehicle.
 5. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein identifying thegeographically-proximate entity based, at least in part, upon thelocation of the vehicle and the direction of interest includes:obtaining information concerning the geographically-proximate entityfrom a datasource.
 6. A computer program product residing on anon-transitory computer readable medium having a plurality ofinstructions stored thereon which, when executed by a processor, causethe processor to perform operations comprising: receiving an utterancefor a request for information, concerning a geographically-proximateentity, on a consumer electronic device included within a vehicle;determining a location of the vehicle; determining a direction ofinterest of an occupant of the vehicle concerning thegeographically-proximate entity, wherein the determining the directionof interest is based on at least one of i) a direction in which eyes ofthe occupant are looking, and ii) a direction in which the front of thehead of the occupant is pointing; and identifying thegeographically-proximate entity based, at least in part, upon thelocation of the vehicle and the direction of interest.
 7. The computerprogram product of claim 6 further comprising: obtaining imageryconcerning the geographically-proximate entity.
 8. The computer programproduct of claim 7 wherein identifying the geographically-proximateentity based, at least in part, upon the location of the vehicle and thedirection of interest includes: identifying the geographically-proximateentity based, at least in part, upon the location of the vehicle, thedirection of interest and the imagery concerning thegeographically-proximate entity.
 9. The computer program product ofclaim 6 wherein identifying the geographically-proximate entity based,at least in part, upon the location of the vehicle and the direction ofinterest includes: requesting additional information concerning thegeographically-proximate entity from an occupant of the vehicle.
 10. Thecomputer program product of claim 6 wherein identifying thegeographically-proximate entity based, at least in part, upon thelocation of the vehicle and the direction of interest includes:obtaining information concerning the geographically-proximate entityfrom a datasource.
 11. A computing system including a processor andmemory configured to perform operations comprising: receiving anutterance for a request for information, concerning ageographically-proximate entity, on a consumer electronic deviceincluded within a vehicle; determining a location of the vehicle;determining a direction of interest of an occupant of the vehicleconcerning the geographically-proximate entity, wherein the determiningthe direction of interest is based on at least one of i) a direction inwhich eyes of the occupant are looking, and ii) a direction in which thefront of the head of the occupant is pointing; and identifying thegeographically-proximate entity based, at least in part, upon thelocation of the vehicle and the direction of interest.
 12. The computingsystem of claim 11 further comprising: obtaining imagery concerning thegeographically-proximate entity.
 13. The computing system of claim 12wherein identifying the geographically-proximate entity based, at leastin part, upon the location of the vehicle and the direction of interestincludes: identifying the geographically-proximate entity based, atleast in part, upon the location of the vehicle, the direction ofinterest and the imagery concerning the geographically-proximate entity.14. The computing system of claim 11 wherein identifying thegeographically-proximate entity based, at least in part, upon thelocation of the vehicle and the direction of interest includes:requesting additional information concerning thegeographically-proximate entity from an occupant of the vehicle.
 15. Thecomputing system of claim 11 wherein identifying thegeographically-proximate entity based, at least in part, upon thelocation of the vehicle and the direction of interest includes:obtaining information concerning the geographically-proximate entityfrom a datasource.